I ask because my guess is those two nations see Hamilton, his teammate and the team he’s in as their main rivals. McLaren right now is just about as British as it gets, with the constructor and both drivers being British.

My guess is most Spanish fans dislike him and the team because of the rivalry with Alonso in 2007 and Italy because Alonso is now in Ferrari, McLaren’s main rivals for decades.

I went to Silverstone last year and the Festival of Speed over the last weekend and just about everyone at both of these events were wearing McLaren gear. There were a few Red Bull fans too but hardly a peep out of Ferrari.

I’m just curious to see whether non-British F1 Fanatics are as patriotic, team loyal or driver loyal as the British seem to be at these events or whether they simply don’t care.

you know, not everyone is nationalist. Some people (british, italian, spanish, whatever) are actually intelligent enough to think the place of birth doesn’t actually matter (or to not believe in astrology or whatever)

That last statement you made there is confusing me. Of course non British fans aren’t gonna be as patriotic towards British teams and drivers because they aren’t British however, go to Italy and see the Tifosi! That’ll shut any McLaren/Red Bull fan up instantly, because their patriotism is insane!

However, it is clear that every country is gonna have a different favorite driver, The U.S will most likely love Hamilton, While Brazil will love Massa. Japan will love Kobayashi, while Spain will love Alonso, and obviously Britain will love McLaren, like Italy love Ferrari. Thats not to say everyone loves those teams/drivers, but its just a general rule, people from countries with teams/drivers will love their national representatives.

I’m from a country that’s never had an F1 driver and very likely never will, so I can’t really contribute to the discussion.

I just wanted to say, that’s a very good point @JJLehto. I don’t get it, why exactly people would support sportsmen just because they’re from the same country. I also don’t get the whole “Proud to be *insert-your-country-here*” thing.

I can’t really say I’m a Hamilton fan, but surely I see he’s one of the best drivers in the world. But there are drivers I like more than Hamilton, for their racing as for their out-of-track behaviour.

I prefer Massa (Brazilian) than Trulli (Italian), although I like him. As I am a Ferrari fan I also support drivers who drive for Ferrari, but how much I do like them depends on me. If Massa went to McLaren I would want him to win every race, as I do now he’s at Ferrari. So if Lewis came to Ferrari I’d support him, maybe I would support his team mate more if I preferred him, but if I now don’t want him to win is because I want Massa/a Ferrari to win. This is the order of importance:

1 – Massa: I want Massa to win every race, not depending on which team he drives for.

2 – Ferrari: if Massa can’t win, I want a Ferrari driver to do so. Which of the two depends on my tastes. In 2011, I obviously prefer Massa to Alonso.

Some people (British, Italian, Spanish, whatever) are actually intelligent enough to think the place of birth doesn’t actually matter

As I said I like Massa, which is not of my same nationality, but: I’m Italian, and I want Italians to do well.

Nick Hamilton supports his brother, right? Why? Can’t he see Vettel is better (example)? But Lewis is his brother, is part of his family, and they have a close relationship. Therefore he likes Lewis more than others.

People of your same nationality are a little as your brothers. You have the same culture, traditions, language, uses. Especially when there are few of them in F1, they represent your nation in the sport. If they represent my nation, they somehow represent me. Of course if Liuzzi crashed on purpose into someone I’d blame him, but otherwise I want him to do well.

And I never liked Fisichella (until Spa 2009), even if he won more than Trulli and Liuzzi together.

you know, not everyone is nationalist. Some people (british, italian, spanish, whatever) are actually intelligent enough to think the place of birth doesn’t actually matter (or to not believe in astrology or whatever)

I find that quite insulting, to suggest that people who support those who represent their country are stupid for doing so. What are the “correct” criteria for supporting someone? What is wrong with patriotism? People like to get behind athletes from their own country, it’s just one of those natural things – as is wanting someone from your own country to fail, or supporting anyone for any reason. It’s a conclusion people arrive to – there’s nothing wrong, right, smart or dumb about any of it.

Polishboy, drftin didn’t ask if non-Brits would be patriotic to British teams. That is of course nonsense. Driftin asked whether people were as patriotic about their F1 support in other countries. Hope that clears things up for you.

As for myself, yeh I like to see the British drivers do well. I couldn’t tell you why because it’s not something that can be explained. But last year I would rather Webber had won the WDC than Button and I spent many years as a Schumacher fan. it’s all a bit of both in my eyes.

Whatever works for you, works for you, so long as you’re not hating on anyone you can do what you want as far as I’m concerned.

There’s nothing wrong with patriotism. It’s when it becomes nationalism, when people start ignoring the flaws of their national representative and supporting them no matter how bad they are, that it gets a bit silly.

I try not to let nationality sway who I support too much, but obviously it’s difficult. I’m a fan of Hamilton and Button, but that’s also because they’re both great drivers who come across as decent people. If they were both complete idiots I’d like to think I wouldn’t support them merely because we were born in the same country.

I don’t like the ‘foreigners’ Alonso and Ferrari, because they both have a very dubious recent history, both are prone to fits of petulance, both have been known to exploit team orders, Alonso has shown disregard to yellow flags on several occasions and blackmailed his team boss, Ferrari sided with the F1 dictators in the mid 2000’s which did the sport no favours, etc etc. Again, I’d like to think I would dislike them for these reasons even if I was Spanish/ Italian, but I suppose I’ll never know…

On the other hand, I barely support the English football team because I think most of the players are unpleasant human beings, the manager is a grumpy prat who’s only in it for the money, and the sense of entitlement and unfounded optimism amongst English fans before each tournament tends to irk me!

I’m British but so I can’t really answer but I imagine it’s along the same lines as here. I’m not at all patriotic and I’m a fan of the great rivals Ferrari and Fernando. I have a lot of respect for Mclaren, Williams, Virgin and their drivers but the fact that they’re British teams does nothing for me. I get slightly annoyed when the Brit GP comes around as I feel they’re always in the news and I’ve a short attention span but generally I don’t pay any more attention to them than I do of any other drivers.

To go back to the topic, I assume that if Fernando and Ferrari are as hyped up in Spain and Italy as I’m led to believe then there must be a wave of rebellious fans sick to death of hearing about them.

Also, I remember reading in an issue of F1 Racing that at Monza one year there was a section of Italian fans who hated Ferrari (I’ll not repeat their chant but to give you a clue it involved alliteration) and no longer saw them as an Italian team but as a global team. These fans turned out to watch Toro Rosso who they felt represented them so patriotic fans can have very different outlooks on what makes a national team.